Stopping use of PKB

Will patient records be deleted if my organisation stop using PKB?

No. When a patient is given a PKB record it becomes theirs for life, even if your organisation stop using PKB. PKB will maintain the record storage but the patient will no longer be able to consult with the professionals in your team or receive their blood results, appointments or clinic letters from your IT systems via automated means. The patient can still manually add data and can use their record to with professionals from other teams or with individuals they have invited into their record themselves.

Will professional records be deleted if my organisation stop using PKB?

The accounts that you set up for your team professionals will not be deleted, the professionals will remain able to log into these accounts and see all the discussions they have had with patients to date. This is their medico-legal record and it is important they retain access.

What steps need to be completed before we stop using PKB?

If previously enabled, PKB will disable appointment messaging for your organisation. Once we have confirmed appointment messaging is switched off, you will need carry oiut the following steps: 

Deactivate your team’s professional accounts

The first action is to deactivate the accounts of all the professionals within your team so that they can no longer access the individual records of patients. 

As team professionals can always log into their PKB accounts - even after the team or organisation stops using PKB - it is imperative for IG compliance that their access to patient’s records is stopped at the point the organisation withdraws from the contract.   

For instructions on how to deactivate a professional, please click here. 

Update your welcome message to patients

Patients will see your welcome message if your team was the first to set up their record - therefore you must update this message to inform the patient that your team is no longer actively using PKB.

For instructions on how to change your welcome message, please click here.

Communicate what's happening with your patients

As a coordinator you can download a list of your patients who have registered and need to be made aware that you are now not using PKB with them going forward.  To do this the Co-ordinator goes to Institutions - Consent - Download contact details.  You can then send an email to registered patients explaining that your trust is stopping use of PKB and what this means.

 Help with password resets

Lastly, as a coordinator, you are responsible for helping patients to access their records in the rare event that they forget both their password and their security question. Although all other coordinator responsibilities will cease when your team stops using PKB this one will remain.

 Patients who forget their passwords can reset themselves by answering their security question - we can also help talk them through this process via our helpdesk. 

If a patient forgets their password and their security question however then we are not able to help them re-access their record due to the need for ID verification and this is where the team coordinator is required. The process remains exactly as it did when your team were still actively using the software and if you are contacted to help with this then you will need to follow this simple process.

This aspect also makes it important that the coordinator role remains filled so if you leave your post please remember to invite another coordinator first and show them the link above to help with passwords if needed.

If you have any further questions or concerns then please don’t hesitate to contact us.